Obama does what his supporters thought impossible. He governs to the right
of George Bush. He's beholden to powerful monied interests. They own him.
He's their man in Washington. Whatever they want they get.

He mocks rule of law principles. He deplores democratic values. He prioritizes
wrong over right. He's waging multiple direct and proxy wars on humanity.

He pretends he cares. He's a con man. He calls for job creation while destroying
them. Over 25 million working age Americans are unemployed. Tens of millions
more are underemployed. Poor jobs substitute for decent ones.

Wages don't keep up with inflation. Benefits are disappearing. Increasingly
most Americans are on their own. The worst is yet to come.

Economist Joseph Stiglitz says America's top 1% gets around one-fourth of
all annually generated income. In 1979, it was 8%. In 1928, it was 22%.
It's more extreme now than ever.

It "continues to grow worse at an accelerating rate," says Rasmus. From
1993 - 2000, America's wealthiest 1% got 45% of all income growth.

From 2000 - 2008, it was 65%. In 2010, it was 93%. It comes from high pay,
bonuses, capital gains, dividends, interest, rents, and other capital income
forms.

At the same time, corporate profits soared. In 2011, they exceeded pre-recession
2007 levels. They've been rising at the fastest rate in 31 years.

Pre-tax, they doubled their 2008 recession low by March 2011. Achieving
them involved more than increased sales. Job cuts, lower wages, fewer benefits,
less working hours, other employee hardships, lower taxes, and faster depreciation
rules produced them.

In 2011, profits as a percent of operating costs were their highest in over
80 years. They came at the expense of ordinary households. They sacrificed
so corporate America and rich elites could gain.

Rasmus calls income inequality a "double edged sword." Over 80% of US households
suffered so its wealthiest and corporate American could profit.

Middle class households are shrinking. Income inequality is longterm. High
unemployment and lack of decent jobs exacerbate crisis conditions. What
began decades ago is worse than ever now.

Since the mid-1970s, real US wages for most workers stagnated or declined.
At the same time, productivity rose. Corporations gained hugely. So did
rich elites.

Today's inequality is greater than ever. Obama prioritizes keeping it that
way. He personifies capitalism's failures. He deplores systemic change.

Expect nothing positive ahead on his watch. The worst is yet to come. Bet
on it.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book is titled "Banker Occupation: Waging Financial War on Humanity."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge
discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour
on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays
and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.